Bultar Swan

For other uses, see Swan.

"We're talking of revenge, Roblio! That's not the path of a Jedi! Having lost so much, must we now give that up as well?"

―Bultar Swan, to Roblio Darté^[2]

Bultar Swan was a female Human who trained with and served the Jedi Order during the final decades of the Galactic Republic. As a Padawan of Jedi Master Micah Giiett, Swan excelled at martial arts, and she later complemented her fighting techniques with a strong lightsaber defense under the tutelage of Jedi Master Plo Koon. Dedicated to her beliefs, she was respected within the Order for her record of never having killed an opponent prior to the outbreak of the Clone Wars. After becoming a Jedi Knight, Swan was routinely sent on peace missions, including one to the Fondor system to investigate the alleged reappearance of an ancient starship and to mediate a dispute over salvage rights to the vessel. Swan became entwined in a plot by the shipbuilder Groodo the Hutt to destroy the Fondor Shipyards, and she aided in destroying Groodo's Droid Control Army and thwarting his plan to take over Fondor Spaceport.

In 22 BBY, Swan was dispatched to the Sepan system to negotiate the cessation of a decades-long civil war, and later in the year, she joined a massive Jedi strike team that was sent to the planet Geonosis to rescue two Jedi and a Republic Senator, who were due to be executed by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The ensuing battle launched a three-year galactic conflict known as the Clone Wars, during which Swan served the Republic as a Jedi General. She led Republic forces into battle on worlds such as Aargonar and Amaltanna; a battle on the latter world saw all of her troops die at the hands of the Separatist Droid Army. However, Swan was able to afterward trap Separatist Commander Baron Edi Wedd inside of his impregnable fortress and leave him to die. Three years into the war, she helped defend the Republic's capital, Coruscant, from the invading Confederate Navy.

Shortly after the Confederacy fled Coruscant, the Republic's Supreme Chancellor Palpatine brought an end to the war and ordered Republic troops to kill their Jedi Generals. Swan escaped the initial stages of the Great Jedi Purge, and she was soon contacted by fellow survivor Shadday Potkin, who invited her to a meeting on Kessel. Eight Jedi attended the conclave, but Potkin had called on them with an ulterior motive: the Sith apprentice Darth Vader, serving Emperor Palpatine of the reorganized Galactic Empire, was on his way, and Potkin hoped that the combined strength of eight Jedi could defeat him. Vader stormed the meeting and began killing the gathered Jedi, but was soon wounded and disarmed by Swan and Master Tsui Choi. Although Swan refused to kill her unarmed opponent, her fellow Jedi Koffi Arana was determined to finish their foe. He seized Swan's lightsaber, stabbing her with it in the process and ending her life.

Biography[]

Early life and Jedi training[]

"If I may ask… when you sleep, do you ever have visions of your home world or your family?"
"I was raised at the Jedi Temple. My home has always been with the Jedi."

―Anakin Skywalker and Bultar Swan^[7]

Bultar Swan, a Human female,^[3] was born on the planet Kuat^[1] during the final decades of the Galactic Republic. She displayed a high level of Force sensitivity at an early age and was discovered by the Jedi Order. The Jedi separated her from her family and brought her to the galactic capital of Coruscant to begin training with their order, and after several years of studying in the Jedi Temple, Swan was assigned to Jedi Master Micah Giiett as his Padawan.^[4] Under Giiett's guidance, Swan displayed prowess in a number of combat disciplines,^[3] including Teräs Käsi and the Verdanaian "sliding hands".^[4] The Twi'lek Jedi Master Anoon Bondara aided Giiett in teaching Swan to blend the two unarmed combat styles.^[6]

Giiett was killed by Yinchorri extremists during the Yinchorri Uprising in 33 BBY,^[8] and Swan continued her training under Jedi Master Plo Koon, a longtime friend of Giiett's. Koon placed greater emphasis on practicing lightsaber combat than Giiett had, and helped Swan learn to use the weapon to complement her skills in martial arts. He took her to Yinchorr to visit the site of Giiett's death, and told her that her former Master had sacrificed his life in order to save several other Jedi. Although she still heavily felt his loss, Swan sensed that Giiett had been at peace at the time of his death and believed that he would have been proud of what she had accomplished in her training.^[6]

Knighthood[]

"He still has much to learn."
"Then I hope he's a fast learner."
"And why is that?"
"Because we may need a great deal of strength if we're going to prevent a civil war."

―Obi-Wan Kenobi discusses Anakin Skywalker with Swan during their mission to the Fondor system^[9]

Bultar Swan served the Galactic Republic as a Jedi Knight.

Swan was knighted within the following eleven years, and entered active service as a Jedi Knight in a galaxy growing more dangerous.^[4] Shortly before 22 BBY, Swan's jurisdiction as a Knight included the Fondor system,^[10] and she was called on to mediate a dispute between Senator Rodd of the planet Fondor and Margravine Quenelle of the world's moon, Nallastia. A Fondorian patrol ship and a Nallastian freighter had both disappeared after encountering what appeared to be the Sun Runner, a starship that had been missing for four thousand years. Both Rodd and Quenelle were claiming salvage rights to the ship, and Swan spent a few days aboard the orbital Fondor Spaceport contacting her sources on Fondor and Nallastia in an effort to learn more about the situation. She was able to convince Rodd and Quenelle to allow further Jedi mediation instead of sending armed vessels to the site of the derelict Sun Runner, and Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker were dispatched to assist her. They arrived at Fondor Spaceport in the Republic cruiser Unitive and brought her to the site of the derelict Sun Runner; Swan briefed them on the situation during the journey through hyperspace.^[9]

When the Unitive arrived at the deep-space rendezvous point, Rodd's salvage hauler and Quenelle's rescue runner awaited them. The Senator and the Margravine both boarded the Unitive and joined the Jedi in the cruiser's salon pod. Swan sat with them at a round table as they argued over the salvage rights, but when both refused to budge, she appealed to Kenobi for help. His deciding judgement, which he was on the verge of presenting, was forestalled when the cruiser's lights went out and a ship-wide power surge fried every onboard system. Captain Pietrangelo found the group and explained that the surge had been caused when the Sun Runner's engines fired, and Swan put an end to the negotiations in order to stop the ancient ship and rescue any potential innocents trapped aboard. Senator Rodd led the Jedi through a docking tube to his ship, where a CloakShape fighter and Z-95 Headhunter awaited them. None of the pressure suits were an appropriate size for Swan, which prompted her to remain behind and watch over the squabbling diplomats while Kenobi and Skywalker infiltrated the Sun Runner.^[9] After several of the Unitive's systems were brought back online, Swan received a message from Fondor Space Patrol: The missing freighter and patrol ship had recently returned and docked at Fondor Spaceport. Accompanied by the diplomats' ships, the Unitive jumped to lightspeed.^[10]

The three vessels docked at the spaceport concurrently with Kenobi's Headhunter. He revealed that the vessel had in fact been a false Sun Runner, and that he and Skywalker had destroyed it with a hypermatter reactor-planted proton grenade after discovering that it had been on a crash course with Fondor. Skywalker's CloakShape fighter had plummeted toward Nallastia during the melee, and Kenobi had only come to the spaceport to refuel before pursuing him. Quenelle offered the two Jedi a ride to the surface aboard her shuttle, and while she prepared the ship, Rodd took the opportunity to accuse Kenobi of having destroyed the real Sun Runner in a desperate attempt to prevent a Fondorian civil war. Swan and Kenobi sensed that he was hiding something—little did they know that he was in league with Groodo the Hutt,^[10] a shipbuilding magnate who had created the false Sun Runner with the intention of crashing it into the Fondor Shipyards and eliminating his competition.^[9] Kenobi followed his instincts and contacted the Jedi Council to request reinforcements. Aboard the Margravine's shuttle, Swan and Kenobi homed in on the remains of Skywalker's crashed CloakShape fighter, which they found abandoned on Nallastia's surface. Following two sets of footprints, they flew to the fortress of Nallastia's Skull Queen, where they found Skywalker holding the moon's Princess Calvaria at lightsaberpoint.^[10]

Thwarting a Hutt[]

"Can you also control your nightmares?"
"Jedi don't have nightmares."
"Of course."

―Skywalker and Swan, on Nallastia^[7]

Swan and the others departed the Margravine's shuttle, and Quenelle informed everyone present that she was the Skull Queen and Calvaria her daughter. Amidst the tense situation, Skywalker explained that Calvaria had imprisoned Hondu and Tattyra Firewell, the zoologist parents of a young boy named Klay, whom she had mistaken for malicious poachers. Quenelle berated her and explained to the Jedi that the two were trapped between Nallastia's ancient Trinity Stones, which would cause a magnetic field to crush them to death in ninety minutes unless the fabled Lost Stars of Nallastia could be found and used to counteract their power. Swan, Kenobi, Skywalker, and Klay Firewell hurriedly joined Quenelle in her shuttle, which Skywalker piloted to the Cavern of Screaming Skulls. When they disembarked in front of the cavern, a giant spider appeared and fired silky filaments at the party. Swan dove in front of Firewell to protect him, but they both ended up ensnared in the web. A jolt of electricity fired through the filaments rendered them both unconscious, and Skywalker ferried them back to the fortress after Quenelle killed the spider with a vibroblade. Kenobi and Quenelle were able to recover the Lost Stars and save the zoologists, but Swan, after waking up, yet sensed that something was amiss in the Fondor system. After the Firewells departed for their homeworld of Corulag, Kenobi and a recovered Swan joined Quenelle and Calvaria at a celebratory feast while Skywalker rested. During the dinner, mother and daughter both declared their intentions to marry a confused Kenobi.^[10]

Swanhasnicehair — Bultar Swan, Jedi Knight

The Princess and the Margravine quarrelled, and the latter pointed out that her daughter was already reluctantly betrothed to Prince Alto of Nallastia's Raptor Clan. Kenobi insisted that his life was one dedicated to the Jedi, and Swan came to his rescue by explaining that only one recent Jedi, Ki-Adi-Mundi, had been permitted to marry due to a low birth rate on his homeworld. Neither Calvaria nor Quenelle were swayed, and they agreed to a duel in one hour before both storming out of the dining room. A befuddled Kenobi sent Swan to wake up his Padawan while he went to the fortress's landing field—their reinforcements had arrived. An anxious Skywalker bombarded Swan with questions about dreams, eventually breaking through her insistence that he seek wisdom from his Master instead and prompting her to describe what she saw whenever she meditated. They then joined Kenobi at the landing field, where Masters Mace Windu and Kit Fisto disembarked from their Republic cruiser and revealed that they too had sensed darkness in the Fondor system. Windu appealed to Quenelle to let go of her desire to marry Kenobi, but their discussion was interrupted by the discovery of a letter from Calvaria: she did not love Kenobi and had only hoped to distract her mother, allowing her to run away and marry the Fondorian mechanic Rench, her true love.^[7]

A beacon on the shuttle Calvaria had stolen homed in on Fondor Spaceport. When Quenelle contacted her daughter there, she learned that the spaceport had been taken over by a group called the Droid Control Army, who would issue demands in one hour. Swan, Windu, Fisto, and Quenelle decided to try to thwart them before that hour had passed, while Kenobi and Skywalker remained behind in case the takeover was a ruse. Swan and Fisto prepared the Republic cruiser while Windu and Quenelle retrieved the Lost Stars of Nallastia; with the artifacts in their possession, the group departed. The Stars' power allowed them to break through the spaceport's deflector shields; after they landed in a hangar, Windu destroyed a modified GNK power droid, whose upper casing contained a repeating blaster. Due to the spaceport's sheer size, the group split up in an effort to find Calvaria and any other potential hostages. Swan made her way through the complex, eventually riding a turbolift into a hangar and finding both Fisto and Windu, as well as Rench and Calvaria, the latter of whom was clutched in the limbs of a modified FX-series medical assistant droid. Windu ordered Swan and Fisto to lower their weapons, but when the droid dragged Calvaria out of the hangar, Windu followed and rescued her. The Jedi remained unaware that the army had belonged to Groodo, who had actually planned to send the spaceport crashing down into important factories on Fondor's surface after the hour had passed. However, the presence of the Jedi and the destruction of his army had sent the Hutt fleeing. The Jedi returned Calvaria and Rench—who was in fact Prince Alto himself—to Nallastia and took a much-needed rest.^[7]

Throughout the mission to Fondor, Swan learned much from Kenobi and Skywalker. Her experience made her an obvious choice for other peace missions,^[4] and in 22 BBY, she and fellow Knights Empatojayos Brand and Chellemi Chuovvick embarked on one to the Sepan system. Their task was to negotiate the cessation of hostilities between the residents of two neighboring planets, Dimok and Ripoblus, after decades of conflict between the two enemies. The three Jedi were able to bring the civil war to a month-long standstill, but upon their return to Coruscant, the fighting flared up again.^[11]

Entering the Clone Wars[]

"This party's over."

―Mace Windu, revealing to Count Dooku his Jedi strike team, of which Swan was a part^[5]

SwanColemanGeonosis-AOTC — Swan and Jedi Master Coleman Trebor at the Battle of Geonosis

In 22 BBY, the Separatist Crisis brought the Republic to its knees. Several thousand star systems seceded from the Republic, many of them joining the Confederacy of Independent Systems, led by the former Jedi Master Count Dooku. When Obi-Wan Kenobi discovered that the Confederacy was building a battle droid army on Geonosis, he was taken captive along with Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was given emergency powers by the Galactic Senate, and he commissioned a Grand Army of the Republic. As Jedi Master Yoda went to Kamino to recruit an army of clone troopers that Kenobi had earlier discovered the Kaminoans had been secretly building for the Republic, Master Windu brought a Jedi strike team to Geonosis, Swan among them. As Kenobi, Skywalker, and Amidala stood in Geonosis's Petranaki arena surrounded by Separatist battle droids, the Jedi strike team infiltrated the arena and came to their aid, igniting their lightsabers and rushing at the droids.^[5]

Swan, who had largely rejected unarmed combat by this point, charged into battle with her lightsaber drawn. All of her combat training came into play as she struggled to resist the barrage of battle droid laserfire.^[4] Many Jedi fell to the overwhelming force of rapidly-firing droids, and Swan joined a survivor's circle in the center of the arena as the droids ceased firing and Count Dooku, observing the melee from above, called on the Jedi to surrender. Windu refused, and as the Jedi again raised their lightsabers, the clone army arrived, landing in and outside of the arena in LAAT gunships. The surviving Jedi boarded the ships, and a battle ensued between Republic and Separatist forces, initiating the Clone Wars. Swan and the other survivors joined the clones in sending Separatist forces fleeing from the planet.^[5]

On the front lines[]

"Victory is always complicated."

―Ki-Adi-Mundi, after troops under his and Swan's command defeated Separatists on Aargonar^[12]

Swan's troops were routed during the Battle of Amaltanna.

Like many other Jedi,^[13] Swan became a general in the Republic's army, leading clone forces into battle against the Separatists. Six months after Geonosis, she led Republic forces against battle droids under the command of the Separatist commander^[14] Baron Edi Wedd^[15] on Amaltanna. All of the clones under Swan's command were killed while every battle droid was simultaneously destroyed in the process. As the lone survivor of the battle, Swan entered Wedd's fortress and sought out the Baron. Via comlinks and holocameras, Wedd followed Swan's every move and repeatedly taunted her, claiming that she could not reach his command chamber. During her search, Swan discovered corpses of native Amaltannans that had attempted to reach Wedd in the past.^[14]

Wedd dispatched small spider droids and a pair of B2 super battle droids to halt Swan's progress, but the Jedi Knight swiftly destroyed them all. She also destroyed the fortress' communications array before arriving at the Baron's command chamber. Amidst more of Wedd's taunting, Swan plunged her lightsaber into the chamber door's control panel, short-circuiting the door-opening mechanism. Swan then left the fortress, abandoning Wedd to die in an inescapable tomb.^[14] Before the year's end, Swan was in charge of a contingent of clone troopers on a snowy planet. When they left their barracks and boarded an LAAT to confront Separatist droids, Swan herded the final stragglers aboard, and was reassured by the final entrant, Sergeant Banks, that he had nowhere better to be.^[16]

In 21 BBY,^[17] Swan and Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi led Republic forces against the Confederacy on Aargonar. When Skywalker, Jedi General A'Sharad Hett, and Hett's Padawan Bhat Jul became trapped behind enemy lines, Swan lost contact with them, and Hett's troops began to give ground to the enemy. As the Republic base was overrun by battle droids, Mundi ordered Swan to hold the location until the clone troopers under his command finished gathering at nearby Vondar Canyon. A budding sandstorm prevented them from fleeing the planet, and they planned to mount a counterattack from the canyon after the storm lifted. In order to prevent the Separatists from seizing Republic supplies, Mundi further ordered Swan to disable whatever they could not take with them. The two Generals ignited their lightsabers and joined their clones in making a stand at the base. After holding it for a brief period of time, their forces retreated to the canyon, and Swan discovered that the ion-charged sandstorm had disabled the tracking, targeting, and communication systems of their equipment. Both Jedi boarded LAAT gunships and continued the fight from the air, hoping to get a better view of how the battle was proceeding. The onslaught of battle droids and IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tanks prompted Swan to order her troops to fall back, but her instructions were preempted by the arrival of Skywalker and Hett in a Gunship Bomber Enhanced closely pursued by a Gouka dragon. Their arrival shifted the tide of the battle, and the broken lines of the Confederate troops fell to the more focused Republic forces.^[12]

Swanonaargonar — Swan and Ki-Adi-Mundi lead Republic forces on Aargonar.

In 19 BBY, after three years of continuous warfare, the Separatists launched a strike at Coruscant. General Grievous, the Supreme Commander of the Confederacy's Droid Armies, brought the Confederate Navy into the system and began loosing warships against both military and civilian targets. His vulture droids and tri-fighters hammered themselves against the planet's defenses and disrupted traffic lanes; Swan, Jedi Masters Saesee Tiin, Agen Kolar, and several other Jedi piloted Jedi interceptors against the attacking Separatist ships. During the battle, Grievous kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and brought the Republic's leader aboard his flagship, the Invisible Hand.^[18] Kenobi and Skywalker, now respectively a Jedi Master and a Jedi Knight, infiltrated the warship and rescued Palpatine, killing Count Dooku and forcing Grievous and his fleet to flee in the process. Over the next few days,^[19] Swan left Coruscant and transferred to a Republic medstation.^[2]

Endgame[]

"Some do not think the Sith should be allowed to win."

―Swan invites Tsui Choi to a conclave of surviving Jedi^[2]

While Swan was at the medstation tending to wounded soldiers,^[2] Chancellor Palpatine revealed himself to Skywalker as Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith, and reorganized the Republic into a Galactic Empire with Skywalker, now named Darth Vader, as his Sith apprentice. Sidious had been manipulating both sides of the war, and he had Skywalker murder every member of the Separatist Council and shut down all Separatist battle droids, while he himself ordered all clone troopers to murder their Jedi generals. Jedi across the galaxy were shot and killed,^[19] but Swan managed to escape execution when other healers at the medcenter warned her of the clones' order. With the war over, the remaining Jedi were scattered and leaderless. Swan was nevertheless contacted by Jedi Master Shadday Potkin^[2] a month later,^[1] who wanted to organize as many Jedi as possible into a force to counteract the Sith. Potkin invited Swan to discuss their situation on Kessel, but Swan traveled to Eriadu first and rendezvoused with Jedi Master Tsui Choi. She found him while he was killing several clone troopers who had been hunting him, and told him of Potkin's invitation. The two of them then journeyed to Kessel.^[2]

Bultarchoipurge — Swan and Tsui Choi in the early days of the Great Jedi Purge

Arriving at an abandoned mine on the rocky planet, they were met by Potkin, who introduced them to five other Jedi that had been invited to the meeting: Koffi Arana, Roblio Darté, Jastus Farr, Ma'kis'shaalas, and Sia-Lan Wezz. A discussion began regarding the current galactic situation and their responsibilities as Jedi; though some in the room advocated hunting and killing the Sith, Swan opined that revenge was not the way of the Jedi. No consensus was reached, and Potkin, having expected such a result, revealed that she had lured Darth Vader to the meeting so that he might fall to the blades of eight Jedi. Vader then stormed the room, acting on false intelligence that had told him Kenobi would be attending the meeting, and was attacked by everyone present save for Swan and Choi, who hung back from the carnage.^[2]

Vader killed Wezz, Ma'kis'shaalas, and Potkin, and used Potkin's own cortosis blade to disable the lightsabers of Arana, Farr, and Darté. As he prepared to finish them, Swan and Choi emerged from hiding, respectively slashing the Sith Lord's leg and amputating his sword arm. Vader surrendered to the Jedi, but a weaponless Arana suspected a trap and ordered Swan to kill him. Swan was unwilling to strike down an unarmed opponent, prompting Arana to seize her weapon, stab her with it, and attack Vader. Swan died, and Arana was quickly killed when Vader telekinetically impaled him with the cortosis blade. Vader took up Swan's lightsaber to continue the fight, and killed the remaining three Jedi with the aid of the newly arrived 501st Legion of Imperial stormtroopers.^[2] The details of Swan's death were filed in a report by Clone Commander Bow. The official records, which were modified by Imperial Advisor Sate Pestage from a compilation of various reports created by Moff Marcellin Wessel, stated that Swan was killed by her fellow Jedi in a power struggle.^[1]

Personality and traits[]

"Don't give in to your anger, Master Koffi! Beware the dark side!"

―Bultar Swan to Koffi Arana^[2]

Swandeath — Swan's dedication to her Jedi ideals saw her betrayed and murdered by Koffi Arana.

Prior to the Clone Wars, Bultar Swan was respected within the Jedi Order for having never killed an opponent, but Swan saw it as an objective statistic rather than a point of pride. She hoped to never have to kill anyone, but if forced to, her goal was to make her opponent's death quick and painless. Although Plo Koon surmised that she would one day sit on the Jedi Council, Swan believed that she was nowhere near ready. Until she knew how she would react to murdering someone, she felt that she was unfit to sit in any kind of judgment over other Jedi. Swan felt that Micah Giiett, her deceased Master, would have been proud of her accomplishments.^[6] During the Clone Wars, Swan reacted pragmatically to the realities of the war and left the Separatist commander Edi Wedd to die in his sealed fortress.^[14]

Swan was respectful of other Jedi, and she sought the advice of her higher-ranked brethren while on the battlefield.^[12] She was honored to have trained under esteemed Jedi Masters.^[4] Tactful, she left it to Obi-Wan Kenobi to share details of their mission to Fondor with his Padawan if he so wished, but she was insistent that he share every detail with Masters Windu and Fisto. Swan was stern with Padawan Skywalker when he questioned the wisdom of Kenobi, and she was not eager to deal with the 18-year-old Padawan's personal problems, insisting that he was better off asking his own Master for advice. She saw Skywalker as both an especially difficult puzzle and a dangerous creature.^[7] Not always serious, Swan found Margravine Quenelle's and Princess Calvaria's desires to marry Kenobi to be quite funny^[10] and openly made a wisecrack about it while alone with Kenobi.^[7]

When action needed to be taken, Swan felt that further discussion was a waste of time.^[9] She was willing to fight for the things in which she believed,^[4] and she believed that revenge and anger were not the path of the Jedi. During the Great Jedi Purge, she refused to kill an unarmed opponent.^[2] In the Fondor system, Swan made averting a civil war and protecting the lives of innocent civilians her highest priorities,^[9] and she took the brunt of an electrically charged spider attack in an effort to protect Klay Firewell, an innocent boy.^[10]

Although born on Kuat,^[1] Swan thought of Coruscant's Jedi Temple as her home. When sleeping or meditating, Swan visualized wide-open spaces and fields of color, and when dark clouds appeared, she envisioned a wind to drive them back. The experience was very calming for her, and she found it an effective way to resist the dark side of the Force.^[7] Swan was 1.68 meters tall,^[4] and she had black hair, brown eyes, and light skin.^[3]

Powers and abilities[]

"Bultar Swan! You live!"

―Tsui Choi, surprised by Swan's survival of Order 66^[2]

Swaninbattle — Swan favored the use of a lightsaber during the Clone Wars.

Graceful, athletic,^[6] and acrobatic, Swan was a skilled Jedi Knight^[3] whose ability to use the Force was spotted at an early age. She developed an interest in unarmed combat techniques early in her Jedi training,^[4] and under the direction of Micah Giiett and Anoon Bondara soon excelled in a unique fighting style that blended Teräs Käsi and the Verdanaian "Sliding Hands" method. Her style required her to maintain physical contact with her foes in order to allow her to judge their next move,^[6] and her mastery of the two disciplines allowed her to defeat opponents with ease without having to kill them.^[4] Prior to the Clone Wars, Swan had never taken a life despite having been involved in a dozen combat encounters.^[6]

When fighting an opponent, Swan would remain still and entice her foe to attack. She would then strike forward with awesome speed, blurring her complex routine of moves into a whirl of motion.^[4]^[20] When Giiett was murdered and Swan's training continued under Plo Koon, the Kel Dor Jedi Master taught her to blend her style with a strong lightsaber defense. Under Koon's guidance, Swan developed a fluid and acrobatic combat style. In combat, she would use her lightsaber to block attacks while seeking an opportunity to disarm her foe. She would then rain punches and kicks on her unarmed opponent until they surrendered.^[6] Her methods in lightsaber combat were greatly influenced by her profound interest in martial arts.^[21]

When the Clone Wars began, Swan had rejected unarmed combat in favor of her lightsaber. The war saw her finally kill opponents, abandoning her^[4] respected^[6] record of never having taken a life.^[4] Swan was also skilled with various uses of the Force, such as deflecting blaster shots with a bare hand.^[14] After visiting the location of Micah Giiett's death, she was able to sense that he had been at peace at the moment of his passing,^[6] and during her mission to Fondor, she could sense when both Senator Rodd and Margravine Quenelle were hiding something from her.^[10] Swan also had some piloting skills.^[18]

Equipment[]

BultarSwanLightsaber-FF111 — The hilt of Swan's lightsaber

Bultar Swan wore robes^[5] with a synthetic leather surcoat and a utility belt.^[22] While fighting against Edi Wedd on Amaltanna, she wore white armor in addition to her robes.^[14] When she met Tsui Choi on Eriadu,^[2] Swan wore brown pants, a belt, a white shirt, and chest armor.^[23] She wielded a green-bladed lightsaber with a silver hilt.^[5]

Behind the scenes[]

"According to Duursema, she and Ostrander have also discussed Jedi Knight Bultar Swan if (Star Wars: Jedi) extends beyond four issues—something that should please the adherents of Bultar Swan's burgeoning internet cult."

―Daniel Wallace^[24]

Bultarconceptart — Concept art of Bultar Swan

Bultar Swan was created for George Lucas's 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. Concept art of the character was created, and the role was given to actress Mimi Daraphet,^[3] who was cast by extra casting director Ros Breden. Nearly four months prior to the release of the film, an image of Swan debuted on StarWars.com, captioned "Bultar Swan, heroic Jedi."^[25] The cut of Bultar Swan's outfit is very similar to the leather-accented ensemble worn by Anakin Skywalker in the same film.^[3] She made her first appearance in the fourth issue of Episode II's comic adaptation, released one week prior to the film.^[26] A set diary for Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith that was made available to members of the Hyperspace fan club on StarWars.com reported that Daraphet underwent makeup and wardrobe tests for the 2005 film.^[27] Swan's name did not appear in the script, however, and she was not present in the film's final cut.^[28]

John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, authors of the Star Wars: Jedi series of one-shot comics which were published from 2003 to 2004, considered focusing an entire issue of the series on Swan. In 2003, when discussing the comic series in issue 67 of Star Wars Insider, author Daniel Wallace stated that the move would have pleased Swan's "burgeoning Internet cult."^[24] In the 2005 comic Star Wars: Purge, Swan was killed during the Great Jedi Purge in the aftermath of the events of Revenge of the Sith.^[2] Star Wars: Purge dates its events at one month after the events of Revenge of the Sith,^[2] which was established as taking place midway through 19 BBY in 2005's The New Essential Chronology.^[29] However, in 2006, Keeper of the Holocron continuity database Leland Chee stated in a blog entry that Swan was killed in 18 BBY.^[30] As several other character death dates given in the blog entry are incorrect,^[29]^[30] this article treats the 19 BBY date as canonical.